For those of you interested in modern draughts variants, Dameo is now available at playstrategy.org.
playstrategy.org/blog/aTAluBIAACUADOff/dameo-is-here%2521
The introductory tournament will be at 1600 UTC on this Sunday.
Dameo
Good news! But unfortunately, the website doesn't work in Russia, and neither does lidraughts:(
From the rules:
In addition, men can jump over one or more adjacent men of the same color in a straight line, forward or diagonally, as long as the square at the front of the line is free.
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This rule is one why I hate Dameo. 8x8 board is too small for this rule being effective and mandatory. Any board above 10x10 justifies this specific jumping move better, because the board dimensions require early fight for the central squares in order to achieve better dynamics. I'm sure that this rule is one which makes Dameo unpopular among top draughts players.
I'm not saying that Dameo is bad, but it requires unusual calculation techniques, so most of players will need to learn this game from scratch.
One might think that some experience in Armenian draughts or Turkish draughts might be good for players. However, it is only partially true. A problem is that in both Armenian and Turkish draughts the first row is empty for a reason: they enable tactics. As well, because horizontal moves are disabled in Dameo, any defensive principles like keeping edge vertical intact shouldn't work in Dameo. Therefore, the typical game scenario in Dameo should be focused on gaining advantage on vertical edges.